Assessing Models of Coordinated Services for Low-Income Children and Their Families (AMCS)

The purpose of the Assessing Models of Coordinated Services for Low-Income Children and Their Families (AMCS) project is to understand how states and local communities are coordinating services across sectors to most efficiently and effectively serve low-income children and their families. These coordinated services approaches vary along a range of dimensions, including their number and types of partners, funding streams, target populations, goals and objectives, locations, services provided, and monitoring processes. This qualitative study aims to fill gaps in our knowledge by identifying and describing the features of state and local approaches to coordinating early care and education services with family economic security and/or other health and human services.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Child Development; Family and Household

Detailed Description

The purpose of the Assessing Models of Coordinated Services for Low-Income Children and Their Families (AMCS) project is to understand how states and local communities are coordinating services across sectors to most efficiently and effectively serve low-income children and their families. Policymakers and program leaders across the country are experimenting with innovative approaches to combine early care and education, family economic security, and other health and human services (Hulsey et al. 2015; Ross 2018; Sama-Miller and Baumgartner 2017). This qualitative study aims to fill gaps in our knowledge by identifying and describing the features of state and local approaches to coordinating early care and education (ECE) services with family economic security and/or other health and human services.

The AMCS study has six primary research questions:

1. How do state and local coordinated services approaches coordinate partnerships and service application and delivery? What are the experiences of those involved with these coordinated services approaches?
2. How do coordinated services approaches intend to reduce barriers and road blocks for families to access services? Are there federal barriers to implementing such approaches?
3. Are approaches that combine ECE, family economic security, and/or other health and human services able to address other child development factors beyond ECE?
4. What have we learned from efforts to integrate enrollment and eligibility processes for health and human services?
5. Are states and/or localities examining service delivery dynamics across ECE programs to assess availability of care slots and services to meet the needs of eligible families? How are they using data to understand service delivery dynamics?
6. How is public and private ECE funding targeted to meet the needs of at-risk children and families? Are there differences in the families that are able to access services?

The study has three primary ways of collecting information: model profile creation and confirmation for up to 76 coordinated services approaches; telephone interviews with leadership from 20 approaches; and site visits to six coordinated services approaches. Site visits include interviews with staff at the coordinated services approaches and focus groups with parents served by the approach.

The information collected in this study will improve federal, state, and local policymakers', practitioners', and other stakeholders' knowledge and understanding of approaches to coordinating services to support low-income children and their families. Findings will be used to inform the federal government and support their work to set program and evaluation priorities; to inform researchers and others in the field about the state of coordinated services; and finally, to inform practitioners who are currently developing, updating and implementing coordinated services approaches.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 416

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Elizabeth Cavadel, Ph.D.; Phone Number: (202) 250-3505; Email: ecavadel@mathematica-mpr.com
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Emily Sama-Miller, M.P.P; Phone Number: (202) 484-4512; Email: esamamiller@mathematica-mpr.com

Study Locations

• United States
  • District of Columbia
    • Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20002
      • Recruiting
      • Mathematica
      • Contact: Elizabeth Cavadel, Ph.D.; Phone Number: 202-250-3505; Email: ecavadel@mathematica-mpr.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: ADULT; OLDER_ADULT; CHILD
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Staff and parents from coordinated services approaches serving low-income families and their children.

Description

Inclusion Criteria: Approaches that meet the following criteria are eligible to be included:

• Currently operates in the United States;
• Has a public website or public documents available for review;
• Serves at least some low-income families;
• Directly provides early care and education services for children age 5 and younger;
• Provides family economic security and/or family-focused health and human services in addition to early care and education
• Intentionally coordinates multiple health and human services.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Does not meet in the inclusion criteria

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Features of coordinated services approaches	Study developed template describing components of state and local coordinated services approaches	up to one year
Qualitative features, service delivery, and perceptions of coordinated services approaches	Telephone interviews (study developed semi-structured telephone interview protocol for state and local coordinated services approaches)	up to one year
Leader and staff perceptions of coordinated services approaches	Site visits (study developed semi-structured in-person interview protocol with leadership and staff of state and local coordinated services approaches)	up to one year
Parent/guardian perceptions of coordinated services approaches	Focus groups (study developed semi-structured parent/guardian focus group protocol)	up to one year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
• Investigators: Study Director: Elizabeth Cavadel, Ph.D., Mathematica Policy Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ANTICIPATED): October 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED): October 1, 2020
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): August 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 14, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 29, 2019
• First Posted (ACTUAL): October 31, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): October 31, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 29, 2019
• Last Verified: October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Coordination; Early childhood education; Social services; State and local agencies
• Other Study ID Numbers: 50685

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No